VBScript Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples - Version 5.20, by Dr. Herong Yang

"Erase" Statement - Removing All Elements in an Array

This section provides a tutorial example on how to use a 'Erase' statement to reset all elements to the default value in a fixed-size array, or truncate the size of a dynamic-size array to zero.

It is interesting to know that VBScript offers a special statement called "Erase" to remove all values in an array:

   Erase array_variable

If the specified array is a fixed-size array, it will reset all elements to the default value: "Empty". If the specified array is a dynamic-size array, it will reset the array to zero size.

To show you how an "Erase" statement works, I wrote the following example, array_erase.html:

<html>
<body>
<!-- array_erase.html
 - Copyright (c) 2015, HerongYang.com, All Rights Reserved.
-->
<pre>
<script language="vbscript">

   ' Setting a fixed-size array
   Dim aFixed(1) 
   aFixed(0) = "Dog"
   aFixed(1) = "Cat"
   document.writeln("")
   document.writeln("Favorite pets:")
   For Each sItem In aFixed
      document.writeln("   " & sItem )
   Next

   ' Setting a dynamic-size array
   Dim aDynamic()
   ReDim aDynamic(1)
   aDynamic(0) = "Apple"
   aDynamic(1) = "Orange"
   document.writeln("")
   document.writeln("Favorite fruits:")
   For Each sItem In aDynamic
      document.writeln("   " & sItem )
   Next

   ' Erasing arrays
   document.writeln("")
   document.writeln("Erasing arrays...")
   Erase aFixed
   Erase aDynamic

   ' Looking at arrays again
   document.writeln("")
   document.writeln("Pets left:")
   iCount = 0
   For Each sItem In aFixed
      iCount = iCount + 1
      document.writeln("   " & sItem )
   Next
   document.writeln("   Count = " & iCount)

   document.writeln("")
   document.writeln("Fruits left:")
   iCount = 0
   For Each sItem In aDynamic
      iCount = iCount + 1
      document.writeln("   " & sItem )
   Next
   document.writeln("   Count = " & iCount)
</script>
</pre>
</body>
</html>

Here is the output:

Favorite pets:
   Dog
   Cat

Favorite fruits:
   Apple
   Orange

Erasing arrays...

Pets left:
   
   
   Count = 2

Fruits left:
   Count = 0

I don't see any surprises in the output. Do you?

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 Introduction of VBScript - Visual Basic Scripting Edition

 Variant Data Type, Subtypes, and Literals

 Arithmetic Operations

 Numeric Comparison Operations and Logical Operations

 String Operations - Concatenation and Comparison

 Variable Declaration and Assignment Statement

 Expression and Order of Operation Precedence

 Statement Syntax and Statement Types

Array Data Type and Related Statements

 What Is an Array?

 "Dim x()" - Declaring Array Variables

 "x(i)" - Accessing Array Elements with Indexes

 "Dim x(n)" - Fixed-Size Array Example

 "Dim x()" - Dynamic-Size Array Example

 "For Each" Statement Example

"Erase" Statement - Removing All Elements in an Array

 Data Type "Variant()" - Array of Variant Values

 Array References and Array Assignment Statements

 Conditional Statements - "If ... Then" and "Select Case"

 Loop Statements - "For", "While", and "Do"

 "Function" and "Sub" Procedures

 Built-in Functions

 Inspecting Variables Received in Procedures

 Error Handling Flag and the "Err" Object

 Regular Expression Pattern Match and Replacement

 scrrun.dll - Scripting Runtime DLL Library

 Creating Your Own Classes

 IE Web Browser Supporting VBScript

 IIS ASP Server Supporting VBScript

 WSH (Windows Script Host)

 References

 Printable Copy - PDF Version

"Erase" Statement - Removing All Elements in an Array - Updated in 2015, by Dr. Herong Yang